Scent of Strawberries
by Higuchimon
Summary: [one-shot, 12 stories LJ Challenge, Shizuka x Honda/Honda x Shizuka, Ardentshipping] Whenever Honda thinks of Shizuka, he thinks of strawberries. Whenever he sees her, he stops being able to think. When she turns up on his doorstep, this could turn out to be an interesting day.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Title:** Scent of Strawberries  
**Word Count:** 4,170  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda Hiroto x Kawai Shizuka  
**Notes:** This takes place a few years after the Ceremonial Duel. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**LJ Challenge:** This was written for the 12_stories challenge.  
**Summary:** Whenever Honda thinks of Shizuka, he thinks of strawberries. Whenever he sees her, he stops being able to think. When she turns up on his doorstep, this could turn out to be an interesting day.

* * *

It was her hair that Honda fell in love with first. Everything about it caught his attention, starting with the color. It was a brilliant shade of red that shimmered softly when sunlight touched it. He hadn't seen too many other people who had that particular shade of hair. Jounouchi's blond was unusual enough, and it was an even bet on who was the more unusual, Yuugi or Bakura. But that brilliant flaming shade of red turned up more and more often in Honda's dreams and fantasies after he met her for the first time.

He wondered often what it would be like to touch that hair. Could it be as soft as he dreamed about it being? Or would it just feel like hair, a little rough against his fingers and possibly even with some tangles or split ends? As hard as he tried, he couldn't imagine her having any of those. Every time he saw her, he wondered if she'd spent a few hours just taking care of that lovely wash of living color.

She had to do something to make it smell so sweet. Whenever she passed by him, the faint scent of strawberries caressed his nostrils. It had to be her shampoo. After all, _people_ didn't smell like strawberries. And the thought of spending a few hours running his hands through her hair was more than a little enticing.

"Honda, what are you thinking about? You're drooling." Jounouchi swatted his friend upside the head, grinning as he did so. Honda jerked back and glared at him fiercely.

"I am not drooling." Sure, he'd been thinking about Shizuka and her sweet, sweet hair, and he was having a serious desire for some strawberries and cream right now, but that didn't mean he was _drooling_. He couldn't imagine how someone as sweet as Shizuka and someone who was as much of an ass as Jounouchi was could have possibly come from the same set of parents.

Then again, he had problems imagining how people like their parents could've produced Shizuka as well, so maybe he shouldn't think about that too much. He had thought at times that she'd make a much better creature of fantasy than anything from the real world. A fairy princess or a dryad, something that belonged in the depths of the forest away from everyone else, instead of out here in gritty, annoying Japan.

"Whatever. So, what's on your mind?" Jounouchi draped himself across Honda's bed and twisted his head a little so he could still have a good look at his friend. There had been something on the other man's mind, and he wanted to know what it was. They'd known each other too long for him not to figure out that he _was_ thinking of something, if not necessarily what, or who, it was. And the more Jounouchi thought about it, the more he was certain that it really was a who. There'd just been that kind of gleam in Honda's eye, like he hadn't seen in a couple of years, not since Miho.

When Honda said nothing, Jounouchi's eyes narrowed a little. "Come on. Tell." He probably wouldn't push it much farther, since if Honda _was_ daydreaming about Miho, he really didn't want to know about it all that much. For that matter, he didn't think that he wanted to know about it no matter who Honda was fantasizing about. It didn't matter if it were someone that he knew or not. Some things Jounouchi just didn't want to know.

"Shizuka." Okay, that was _really_ something that Jounouchi hadn't wanted to hear. He sat up all the way and stared at him.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that." It was the big brother part of him, the part that wanted to believe that Shizuka wasn't ever going to want to date, and if she did, she wasn't going to want to date anyone that he actually _knew_, because his mind simply couldn't wrap itself around that quickly or easily. Or at all.

Honda didn't even bother to look at Jounouchi. He had a feeling he knew what the other was thinking even before he said a word. So he just found something else to look at. Even thinking about Shizuka suddenly felt wrong, so he tried to think about anything else.

Were there strawberries and cream downstairs? His mom had done the shopping just a few days ago, and he thought he remembered seeing her bring in some. They'd taste really good right now, he was sure of that.

"Want a snack?" he asked, getting to his feet as if he'd never said a word about Jounouchi's sister. "I think there's some strawberries in the kitchen." His mom had been meaning to make strawberry daifuku, now that he thought about it, but there still had to be some left over. Even if there weren't, the daifuku itself would be more than good enough.

Jounouchi gave him a wary look, but got all of the way to his feet. "Sure." As long as Honda didn't keep saying anything like that, he could pretend it hadn't actually happened in the first place. Shizuka was only two years older than he was, nineteen to his twenty-one. There was no way that she was old enough to date. And not date someone his age. Or date ever. Yeah. That was the way things had to be.

The two of them headed towards the kitchen, but before they got there, Honda had to veer over to the door as someone knocked on it. He swung it open without bothering to ask who it was, then stared, not at all believing who was there.

"Hi, Honda!" Shizuka chirped cheerfully, waving at him before she peeked over his shoulder and waved again. "Hi, Katsuya!"

Jounouchi stared as well, then came over there to stare at her. "What're you doing here?" He shot another look at Honda, but the spike-haired brunet didn't appear to notice at all this time. Jounouchi swatted him more fiercely this time. "Let her in, idiot!" If she was going to be there, then she wasn't going to stand out there.

Shizuka laughed a little as she came in, removed her shoes, and slid into a clean pair of guest slippers. "Yuugi told me that you were going to be here, Katsuya. That's why I came over."

Honda blinked a few times, shook his head, and started to back away and head back towards the kitchen. He couldn't think of anything even remotely intelligent to say at the moment beyond some kind of half-mumbled greeting, and he didn't think that he could bear being that stupid right now.

He could already smell the scent of her hair, and the urge to have some strawberries just kept on rising. He wondered if she'd like some. He couldn't really hear them talking, but he suspected that was more because he wasn't trying to listen than anything else. Whatever brothers and sisters talked about, he didn't care. That included his own sister, since he had never forgiven her for having Johji in the first place.

There were indeed strawberries left, as well as some daifuku. His mom had probably intended them for a dessert, but he grabbed some of each anyway. He thought he remembered hearing somewhere that Shizuka liked strawberry daifuku. Finishing off the snack tray with a drink for each of them, he started to carry it out.

"Oh, that smells so good!" Shizuka's eyes widened happily as she saw what he had. "I love strawberry daifuku!"

"I thought you did." Honda replied, his cheeks tinging slightly red as he settled the tray down on the table in the living room. Jounouchi shot him another of those looks, but this time Honda didn't even notice it. There was little other than Shizuka that he would notice for a while.

In fact, the more time that he spent around her, the more he noticed that he liked. It wasn't just her hair, as lovely as it was. It was her eyes, which were soft and caring. It was the graceful way her hands moved when she picked up something and brought it to her mouth. It was the way her laugh sounded when Jounouchi said something to make her laugh.

Yes, it was her brother making her laugh. Because Honda certainly wasn't saying anything that could do that. He could barely even manage a couple of chuckles himself. He'd never felt so tongue-tied in his life.

"So, Mom said that I could stay for a week, but that's it. And I have to stay at Anzu's house." Shizuka's eyes twinkled with laughter. "I'm so glad that her parents said yes. I missed you all."

Honda fumbled around for something that would at least sound partially intelligent and finally gulped out, "That's really great. I've missed you too."

That earned yet _another_ look from Jounouchi that went completely past Honda's attention. Shizuka, on the other hand, smiled at him, sending a warm wash of emotion from Honda's head to his feet. And she probably didn't even realize it.

_Idiot. She meant all of you. Not just you._ Honda tried to tell himself that, and while he heard himself, he had yet to actually convince himself. He wanted to think it was just him that she'd missed. Or at least himself and Jounouchi.

"Well, once I got everything settled, I wanted to let Katsuya know that I was here, so I went over to Yuugi's. I figured even if he wasn't there, Yuugi would know where you were, big brother." Shizuka kept on talking, taking a brief break to swallow some daifuku.

Jounouchi nodded some, then grinned. Honda was virtually certain he knew what was going to come next, and he wasn't disappointed at all. "Well, now that you're here, why don't we go for a walk or something? We can hit the arcade or go by the beach or something."

"Sure!" Shizuka declared quickly, then before Jounouchi could get up, she turned to Honda. "Where do you think we should go? The arcade or the beach?"

_What?_ Honda's mind refused to work at all. That wasn't what was supposed to happen. Jounouchi and Shizuka were supposed to have left, and he would clean up the mess from the snacks and daydream about her and strawberries, and that was it. He might see her a few more times during her visit but she'd spend most of her time with Jounouchi and Anzu. That was the way it was supposed to be.

Jounouchi looked just as surprised as he felt, and Honda heard himself answering before the blond could interrupt. "The beach would be great." All that sun and sand and surf. It was wonderful, and the thought of being there with her, even with Jounouchi there, sent pleasant shivers down his spine.

Just as it looked as if Jounouchi were about to say something else, there was a noise of some kind. It took Honda a moment to realize that it was Jounouchi's cell phone ringing. The other groaned as he checked to see who it was, then answered it.

"What is it?" Jounouchi looked more and more irritated with each moment. "Can't it wait til tomorrow?" There was a brief pause. Honda couldn't quite hear who was on the other end, but he guessed it was probably the person Jounouchi worked for. He'd never heard who that was, but Jounouchi got a pretty hefty paycheck, so it had to be worth keeping. "Fine, fine. I'll be down there in about half an hour."

He closed the cell phone and looked at Shizuka. "I'm going to have to do that some other time, Shizuka. My boss just called me in." He started to look towards Honda, then looked back at his sister and said, "You still want to go to the beach, don't you?"

"Of course!" Shizuka grinned happily as she gestured to Honda. "Honda and I can go. I'll be safe with him, right?"

"I'd never let anything happen to her." Honda managed to speak. And he meant it. He'd rather let himself get torn to pieces or drown before letting someone hurt one of his friends, much less someone he liked as he liked Shizuka.

Jounouchi hesitated a little more, glanced at his cell phone, then over to Honda. "All right." There was a great deal more unsaid in those words, such as how much he was trusting Honda with his beloved little sister. Honda knew him well enough to know all of it, no matter if it were said or unsaid. "This is probably going to take me a while, so I'll call you at Anzu's tonight, okay?"

Shizuka nodded again, that cheerful smile never leaving her features for a moment. "I'll be there. We won't stay out too long, big brother."

Honda suspected if the call from his boss hadn't been as urgent as it apparently was, then Jounouchi might've blown it off just to stick around. But instead, his friend just headed out of there, throwing one more concerned look over his shoulder before he was out of sight entirely.

"So…the beach…" Honda managed to find his voice again, scarcely believing what was going on. Sure, it wasn't like a date, but it was the two of them together in a kind of romantic setting. It was close enough for him, and more than he'd ever dreamed would happen any time soon.

"Right!" Shizuka jumped up to her feet, and as her hair fell back some, he once more caught the scent of those sweet strawberries. "When do you think you'll be ready to go?"

Honda blinked a few times, trying to get his brain to really function right. He could do better than this! "Um, just a second." He didn't need to get too much, since they were just going to be walking and not actually swimming. He steered his mind away from the thought of Shizuka in a swimsuit. Very far away.

All he really needed to do was clear away the mess from their snacking and get his own cellphone, just in case anyone might need to reach him. After that, he was ready to go.

The trip to the beach itself passed in a brilliant warm haze of mental light for Honda. He was certain they talked, and that he didn't sound all that stupid as they did, but the next thing he was really aware of was the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as they walked closer to it.

Everything around him was suddenly in vivid color. The blue-green of the ocean, the mix of brown and white of the sand, the perfect blue of the sky overhead…all of it glowed in his mind. And once again, that breathtaking red of her hair, the warm brown of her eyes, the soft ripple of her laugh as she ran closer to the ocean, all of it burned itself into his mind. He could have closed his eyes on the last day of his life and remembered it as if it had happened a bare ten seconds earlier.

"Come on, Honda!" She laughed and waved as he came closer. The beach today wasn't quite deserted, but there weren't too many people there. That made Honda himself quite happy. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone else today. Maybe some other time, but not today, and not now. Today was for making Shizuka happy and that was what mattered. He wondered if he had enough money in his pocket to get her something to eat if she wanted it. He thought he was going to need something liquid himself soon, with the way his throat kept drying up whenever he looked at her.

"Are you having fun?" he asked once they'd walked a little while. It felt silly to ask, especially since she hadn't shown any signs of _not_ having fun, but he wanted to say something isntead of just plodding along beside her. "I could get you a drink if you wanted. Or something." There were several different stands set up away from the shoreline, and just making up one's mind on what to get could take a good five or ten minutes. Not quite infinite variety, but not for a lack of trying.

"Of course I am!" Shizuka told him with a warm smile. "But something to drink would be nice. Maybe a soda?" She gestured briefly towards on the vendors, and Honda headed the way at once, with her only a few steps behind him. "I really am liking this, Honda. I hardly ever get the chance to go to the beach when I'm home."

The fact she was only there for a week bothered him, but he tried not to let it show. At least it was _some_ time. Better than nothing. Better than not having ever met her.

"If there's anything else you want to do, let me know," Honda said after he got her soda and handed it over. He got himself a can of coffee and sipped at it in deep pleasure. He didn't know how quite to say he wanted her to have as much fun as possible, so he didn't.

"If there is, I will!" Shizuka promised, opening her drink. "But this is great just the way it is." Her smile seemed a little shyer this time, and he couldn't help but wonder why. After she'd taken a few more sips of the drink, she started to walk again, and he fell into place beside her without a moment's hesitation.

He couldn't believe how natural it felt to be walking with her like this, even with how little they really knew each other. He was kind of taller than she was, but he was used to being taller than everyone else he knew, so he automatically matched his steps to hers. He glanced around some, then began to smile. "I think there's something that I want to show you."

"Really?" Shizuka perked up at that. "What is it? Where is it?" Every new sight that even appeared to hint at offering itself caught on her enthusiasm, he'd noticed.

"It's this way!" He took her hand without thinking about it and hurried the both of them along. They'd walked farther than he'd thought they had, and he'd realized suddenly that they were near a little place he'd known about since he was a little kid. It was kind of hard to get into, but once you were in there, it was beautiful. He'd only mentioned it to a few people, but he'd never actually shown it to anyone. Jounouchi had found him there a few times, but he'd never been _shown_ it. This was going to be different. This was special.

Well, 'near' was a relative term, really. It took another fifteen or twenty minutes for them to walk there, even hurrying, and they'd left most of the heavily covered part of the beach behind them. There weren't too many people here and the few vendors weren't doing much business even from them. Cliffs rose high over them now, pocketed with caves here and there, most of them too covered in water to be useful for anything. Honda led her around the foot of one of those cliffs, to where a small waterfall trickled down, sending a rainbow sparkling up from where the sunlight struck it.

"Oh! That's beautiful!" Shizuka declared, staring at it with wide eyes. Honda only grinned.

"That's not it." That was part of it, one of his personal landmarks, and something he'd enjoyed looking at a lot more than most people might have suspected. But it wasn't _it_. He moved behind the waterfall, and the huge rock that was behind the waterfall, carefully checking it out to be certain that everything was just the way it should be. There could've been a rockslide or anything there, really.

But nothing seemed out of place, and he motioned her to join him. Once she had, he guided her down a short rocky corridor, until it opened up into a slightly wider area. Sunlight streamed down from an opening the cliffs above, dancing against the water as it washed against the rocks below. There was moss growing on most of the rocks, and a few hardy flowers here and there. The sound of the sea was loudest of all, crashing and breaking over and over.

Shizuka stared at it all, her eyes growing rounder and wider with every moment as she took it in. Then she breathed softly, "This is so beautiful!"

"I thought you'd like it." He didn't want to say how special this was to him. He'd come here now and then, when he'd needed just to get away from everything. Any time that Johji visited came to mind, as did after Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, as well as after Atemu had went to the afterlife. He missed the Pharaoh, more than he had thought he would.

She turned to look at him, a soft and shy smile now, somehow different from the others she'd sported ever since showing up at his door, hovering on her lips. "I love it. It's so…so powerful." There was a moment of hesistance and then she kept going. "Just like you."

Honda's mouth was suddenly as dry as if he hadn't had a single drop of anything to drink all day. He tried to swallow, but that didn't do anything, especially not with the way those bright brown eyes of hers just kept on looking at him. Her cheeks were flaming red, he noticed that suddenly. What was she trying to say…was she even trying to say anything? He had never been this confused by anyone, not since Miho.

"I think it reminds me more of you," he managed to say, smiling back at her. "It's beautiful. And strong. It can survive anything." He had no idea of where the words came from, only that he knew they were true. Shizuka had survived quite a bit very nicely, not just the divorce of her parents, but the degeneration and restoration of her eyesight. He knew she was making plans for college, from casual mentions that Jounouchi had dropped here and there, but just what she planned to study he didn't know yet. But just the fact she was going impressed him more than anything.

Shizuka's blush darkened even more and she ducked her head a little. "That's so sweet of you." She looked away and waved her hand around a bit. "I bet you and your friends come here all the time. Right?"

"Not really." Honda found it a little easier to speak when he wasn't actually looking at her. Just a little easier. "I haven't ever shown this place to anyone. Jounouchi found me here once, but other than that…"

She glanced back at him for a second, then away again. He couldn't tell now if she were still blushing or not. "Oh…then I'm very glad you showed it to me. I don't think I've ever seen a place more beautiful."

"I've seen a lot of beautiful places," he admitted. He had; being able to travel around with his friends had shown him a lot. "But I don't think any place is half as beautiful as you are." He remembered the gentle feel of her fingers in his hand, and just the thought of that sent his head reeling all over again. He decided sitting down was probably a good idea, and he did so, picking one rock he knew wasn't going to be too slick with splashed up water. He watched her from where he sat, wondering where this was going to go, if anywhere. He thought it might, but where…that one still baffled him. And what Jounouchi might think when he found out…

_He knew._ Honda was sure of that suddenly as he thought back to when his friend had left. Jounouchi had known there was something sparking there. He might not have been sure before she'd shown up, but after that…yeah, he'd known.

Shizuka took a few steps, not that this place was really large enough for more than a few steps to be taken, and stood in front of him. She looked down at him for a moment or two, then leaned forward and whispered, "Do you want to go on a real date with me? A movie maybe? There's a really good one playing tonight."

Honda might have had problems with thinking or saying anything really coherent at the time, but he knew what to say to _that_. "Yeah! Sure!" Funny, he'd always heard that the guy was supposed to ask the girl out, but why be too picky about it? He grinned a little more as she stayed close to him, settling down on the rock beside him. "Hey, Shizuka?"

"Yes?"

"Did you know that your hair smells like strawberries?"

**The End**


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